Devils rookie Eric Gelinas will get to play his first NHL game tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It may be a brief window into the club’s future.

“I think we’re excited to see him and what he can do. He has some special talents offensively,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “So we’ll get a good look tonight.”

Gelinas, less than two weeks from his 22nd birthday, will play on power play. He will be paired with Peter Harrold.

“I don’t know if you have to manage his minutes. Obviously we’re going to try and watch who he’s out against,” DeBoer said. “Obviously (Evgeni) Malkin is a guy you’re not going to want to put him out against, at least on his first shift of the game. We’ll try and protect him a little bit that way.

“Adrenalin is flowing. I think he could probably play 60 minutes as far as endurance goes.”

Gelinas, given No. 32, is anxious to make his debut.

“Obviously I’m really excited. It will be my first regular season game,” he said after the morning skate. “It’s going to be nice, especially against a team like this with some big stars. It’s going to be a good challenge.”

How does he describe his game?

“I think I’m not overly offensive but I can bring some offense. I think I have a good shot,” he said. “I worked a lot of the defensive side this year. I think I improved a lot from last year. I’m not an overly physcal guy either, but I’m not afraid to throw my body.”

He’s also not afraid to reinjure his jaw, which was broken when he was struck by a shot on Oct. 6 in a preseason game for Albany (AHL).

“The dentist told me there are so many micro fractures in the top teeth that they might just fall if I get hit again,” Gelinas said. “It’s not something I try to think about. If it happens it happens. That’s the game of hockey. You don’t see too many people with all their teeth still in. I guess it’s part of the game.”

He had a hunch he’d play when he was told not to stay on the ice too long after practice yesterday. His hopes were confirmed when his name was on the board this morning.

“I’ll probably be nervous the first shift, but at the end of the day it’s a hockey game. It’s nothing different. It’s the best hockey level in the world, but it just comes down to keeping it simple.”

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Up front, Tom Kostopoulos will play right wing on the fourth line in place of Steve Bernier. Steve Sullivan will skate at right wing on the line with Dainius Zubrus and Jacob Josefson while Matt D’Agostini sits.

Kostopoulos has been scratched from seven straight games and nine of the last 10.

Sullivan and Kostopoulos are both former Penguins.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t on the list of factors (for playing them),” DeBoer said, “but it was well down the list. It’s not like either guy has been a lifelong Penguin or anything. But it was on the list.”

Josefson, who scored a goal against the Canadiens, is in the lineup for the fourth time in five games.

“He struggled early in the season with his confifence. He looks like a different player right now,” DeBoer said of Josefson. “I don’t have a reason why he lost it. I thought a year ago he played with some confidence and a little bit of swagger for a young guy.
That kind of disappeared this year for some reason, but he seems to have recovered it.”

Adam Henrique will be back in, skating at left wing with Andrei Loktionov and Ilya Kovalchuk.

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The Devils have won two of three against the Pens this season.

“Whether (Sidney) Crosby is in or not and whether (James) Neal is in or not, they’re a dangerous team,” DeBoer noted. “They’ve got unmatched depth up front. So it’s pick your poison.

“We had some success early in the year against them with both Crosby and Malkin in the lineup. It was because of our attention to detail in the neutral zone and not turning pucks over. Taking away time and space. If you don’t do that against this team they can embarrass you.”

Neal and Paul Martin will not play tonight. Crosby remained in Pittsburgh.

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Eighteen of the Devils’ first 23 home games have been sellouts. The last three have not.

“We owe it to the fans to give it a full effort and compete right to the last buzzer,” DeBoer said. “They filled the rink every night for us. That’s part of professionalism, but it’s also an appreciation to them for coming out and supporting us.”